Newcastle packs many kinds of building into a small area. A terrace shop with a flat upstairs stands near a new apartment block, around the corner from a pub that backs onto a row of warehouses. Every one of them has its own fire equipment, its own history of alterations and its own paperwork.
V&H Fire Group works across the city and its suburbs, from the harbour out to Beresfield.
Who we work with in Newcastle
- cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars
- retailers and offices, including those in buildings converted more than once
- warehouses, workshops and trade premises
- apartment buildings, owners corporations and strata managers
- landlords and property managers keeping track of several sites
- people at home who want a smoke alarm, blanket or extinguisher sorted
What we do in the city
- Supply and install. Under fire protection we provide and fit extinguishers, fire blankets, hose reels, exit and emergency lighting, smoke alarms and signage. When a job includes electrical or plumbing work, you are told at the start how that part gets done.
- Keep it working. Maintenance means inspecting, testing and servicing that equipment on a routine, tagging it, and handing you a written report at the end.
- Get the records straight. Compliance is help for owners, strata and property managers in getting fire safety measures inspected, documented and fixed, so the building’s paperwork can be completed. What a particular building has to show differs between buildings, and is a matter for the NSW Government’s rules and your council.
- Help people know what to do. Safety solutions takes in evacuation diagrams, signage, staff walk-throughs and fire safety advice for fit-outs and moves.
Areas we cover
- Newcastle CBD
- Wickham
- Carrington
- Islington
- Tighes Hill
- Hamilton
- Broadmeadow
- Mayfield
- Waratah
- Adamstown
- Merewether
- Kotara
- Lambton
- Jesmond
- Wallsend
- Beresfield
Other Newcastle suburbs are covered too.
What is particular about Newcastle buildings
Older commercial buildings. Many of the city’s commercial buildings have had several lives. A place that began as a warehouse or a bank may now hold offices, a cafe and a few apartments. Each change can leave equipment that no longer matches the layout, such as an exit sign pointing at a wall built later. The first step is to walk the building as it stands now, not as an old plan shows it.
Hospitality. Venues combine kitchens, crowds, low lighting and late hours. Staff come and go, so the person on shift tonight may never have been shown where the fire blanket is. A walk-through is worth repeating whenever the roster turns over.
Warehouses and workshops. Stock moves and racking gets rearranged. A hose reel that stood in the open when it was installed can end up behind a pallet stack. The reel may be fine. Getting to it is the problem.
Apartments. Shared corridors, stairs, car parks and fire doors belong to everybody, which can mean nobody is watching them. Keeping common-area fire equipment serviced and recorded usually falls to the owners corporation and its strata manager. Residents do their part by reporting damage and keeping doors and paths clear.